Bang Bang Shrimp Pasta
Our Instant Pot Bang Bang Shrimp Pasta recipe is Inspired by the popular Bang Bang Shrimp dish, this recipe takes succulent shrimp, tender pasta, and a creamy, spicy sauce to create a mouthwatering fusion of flavors. With the magic of the Instant Pot, you’ll have this restaurant-worthy dish on the table in no time. So, grab your apron, and let’s dive into a world of irresistible taste and effortless cooking

What you’ll love about this recipe:
- Irresistible Flavor: Enjoy the irresistible combination of succulent shrimp, creamy sauce, and perfectly cooked pasta, creating a harmonious blend of flavors that will leave your taste buds craving more.
- Quick and Easy: With the convenience of the Instant Pot, you can have this flavorful dish ready to serve in a fraction of the time it would take to make it on the stovetop, making it perfect for busy weeknights or last-minute dinner plans.
- One-Pot Wonder: Say goodbye to multiple pots and pans! This recipe is made entirely in the Instant Pot, minimizing cleanup and making it a hassle-free option for home cooks.
- Customizable Heat: Adjust the level of spiciness to your liking by controlling the amount of chili sauce or hot sauce added to the dish, allowing you to tailor it to your taste preferences.
- Versatile: While this recipe features shrimp, you can easily customize it by substituting the protein with chicken, tofu, or even vegetables for a vegetarian option, making it suitable for a variety of dietary preferences.
- Impressive Presentation: Serve up a restaurant-quality dish that’s sure to impress family and friends with its vibrant colors, enticing aroma, and tantalizing flavors.
- Budget-Friendly: Using simple and readily available ingredients, Bang Bang Shrimp Pasta is a budget-friendly option that doesn’t skimp on flavor, making it a smart choice for home cooks looking to save money without sacrificing taste.
- Family-Friendly: Loved by kids and adults alike, this dish is a crowd-pleaser that will satisfy even the pickiest eaters, making it a go-to option for family meals and gatherings.
- Perfect for Entertaining: Whether you’re hosting a casual dinner party or a special occasion, Bang Bang Shrimp Pasta is an impressive yet effortless dish that will have your guests asking for seconds.
- Leftovers Reheat Well: Enjoy the delicious flavors of Bang Bang Shrimp Pasta for days to come, as leftovers can be easily reheated in the microwave or on the stovetop for a quick and satisfying meal.

Ingredients for Bang Bang Shrimp Pasta
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon of paprika
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 3 cups of water
- 1 pound of spaghetti pasta
- 1 pound of shrimp
- 1 tablespoon of lime juice
- For the Sauce:
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup of mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup of Thai sweet chili sauce
- 2 tablespoons of sriracha
- 1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon of onion powder
Bang Bang Shrimp Pasta Recipe
- Set the Instant Pot to Saute mode.
- Add minced garlic, paprika, and olive oil to the pot. Cook for about 1 minute until fragrant.
- Break the spaghetti pasta in half and place it in the pot.
- Pour 3 cups of water over the pasta.
- Prepare the shrimp by placing them on a piece of foil. Sprinkle the shrimp with additional paprika and 1 tablespoon of lime juice.
- Place the foil-wrapped shrimp on top of the pasta in the pot.
- Close the Instant Pot lid and set it to manual High pressure for 4 minutes.
- Once cooking is complete, perform a Quick Release.
- While the pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce by mixing together all ingredients until well combined.
- After releasing the pressure, carefully open the Instant Pot lid and mix together the cooked shrimp, pasta, and sauce.
- Stir well to combine all ingredients.
- Serve the Bang Bang Shrimp Pasta and enjoy!


Tips & Tricks
- Prep Ingredients in Advance: Before starting to cook, ensure all ingredients are prepped and ready to go. This includes chopping vegetables, measuring out spices, and deveining and peeling shrimp if necessary.
- Tailor Spiciness to Taste: Adjust the level of spiciness in the sauce to suit your preferences. Add more or less sriracha and crushed red pepper flakes to control the heat level of the dish.
- Use High-Quality Shrimp: Opt for fresh or high-quality frozen shrimp for the best flavor and texture. Look for shrimp that are firm, translucent, and have a mild, oceanic scent.
- Cook Pasta Al Dente: Cook the pasta just until al dente, as it will continue to cook slightly when combined with the sauce. Overcooked pasta can become mushy and less appetizing.
- Use Foil for Shrimp: Cooking the shrimp on foil prevents them from overcooking and ensures they stay juicy and tender. Plus, it makes cleanup a breeze!
- Mix Sauce Ingredients Well: Ensure the sauce ingredients are thoroughly mixed to evenly distribute the flavors throughout the dish.
- Customize with Add-Ins: Get creative and add additional ingredients to the pasta, such as bell peppers, snap peas, or spinach, to increase the nutritional value and add extra texture and flavor.
- Garnish for Visual Appeal: Sprinkle chopped green onions, cilantro, or sesame seeds on top of the finished dish for a pop of color and added freshness.
- Serve Immediately: Bang Bang Shrimp Pasta is best enjoyed fresh and hot. Serve it immediately after mixing the sauce with the pasta and shrimp to savor its delicious flavors at their peak.

FAQs about Instant Pot Bang Bang Shrimp
More Recipes

Instant Pot Bang Bang Shrimp Pasta
Our Instant Pot Bang Bang Shrimp Pasta recipe is Inspired by the popular Bang Bang Shrimp dish, this recipe takes succulent shrimp, tender pasta, and a creamy, spicy sauce to create a mouthwatering fusion of flavors.
Ingredients
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon of paprika
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 3 cups of water
- 1 pound of spaghetti pasta
- 1 pound of shrimp
- 1 tablespoon of lime juice
For the Sauce:
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup of mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup of Thai sweet chili sauce
- 2 tablespoons of sriracha
- 1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon of onion powder
Instructions
- Set the Instant Pot to Saute mode.
- Add minced garlic, paprika, and olive oil to the pot. Cook for about 1 minute until fragrant.
- Break the spaghetti pasta in half and place it in the pot.
- Pour 3 cups of water over the pasta.
- Prepare the shrimp by placing them on a piece of foil. Sprinkle the shrimp with additional paprika and 1 tablespoon of lime juice.
- Place the foil-wrapped shrimp on top of the pasta in the pot.
- Close the Instant Pot lid and set it to manual High pressure for 4 minutes.
- Once cooking is complete, perform a Quick Release.
- While the pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce by mixing together all ingredients until well combined.
- After releasing the pressure, carefully open the Instant Pot lid and mix together the cooked shrimp, pasta, and sauce.
- Stir well to combine all ingredients.
- Serve the Bang Bang Shrimp Pasta and enjoy!
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 428Total Fat: 20gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 167mgSodium: 989mgCarbohydrates: 39gFiber: 2gSugar: 13gProtein: 22g
Can this be made with frozen shrimp?
absolutely
Can I make this with chicken? Like cut up chicken breast? Do you think still cooking it on the foil would be necessary? Any time adjustments for chicken?
yes you can use chicken or shrimp 🙂
Made this tonight, in the pot now. Used chicken instead of shrimp because that’s what I had in the fridge. Sautéed them with the garlic to brown. We shall see how it turns out! Thanks for the recipe.
In the Bang Bang shrimp, you don’t cook the sauce at all? Thx for the recipes. I’m new to Instant pot.
Just finished making this per the recipe. For one pound of pasta, it was not completely cooked. No direction was given on the water that the shrimp
puts out while cooking, so I drained it. Thinking I probably shouldn’t have because the dish is pretty dry. I was hoping the color of mine would have been close to your’s, but no….. mine’s pretty orange. Great effort in providing the recipe, but probably won’t do this one again! If my comment shows a 5 star rating, it’s because the option to rate automatically selects 5 stars and will not let you change it. I’d rate 1.5 or 2.
hummm not sure what happened.
I do, its a conspiracy
I really want to make this! Looks delicious. Do you put the foil directly on the noodles? It looks like you have a strainer in the pot. What is that and when do you put it in?
Made this, SO good. I used a little less than a pound of pasta. I did not drain the pasta and it was perfection. Thank you!!
We enjoyed this, but my pasta had some really big clumps. And do you get rid of the liquid from the shrimp, or stir it in?
My noodles were undercooked as well. I liked the flavor and feel like I can tweak this for next time. Thank you!
Flavor was SPOT ON! I omited the red pepper flakes and my kids loved it! I will be doing 1/2 lb pasta (I use an authentic pasta, not a boxed, so not sure if that was denser) and a smidge more liquid, but fantastic recipe!! THANK YOU!
I found the suggested cooking time was not long enough to cook a lb of pasta. Once I re-covered the pot to cook it a little longer, I lost most of the steam, and even after cooing it 2 mins longer, the pasta was still tough. But the flavor was good. I will try this again, making some adjustments….
This was my 2nd IP dish and I must say it is delicious! Here’s what I changed to make this for 2 adults…1/2 lb linguini but same amt of water. Next time I will reduce water by 1 cup. Increased cooking time to 6 mins and pasta is perfect with shrimp not over cooked. Minimal trouble with linguini sticking together. I reduced Sriracha to 1 tsp and I’m glad I did! Yum. Will definitely make this again.
The more I think about it, I won’t reduce the water with 1/2 lb pasta – it made a lot of sauce that I put left-over beef and that was delicious. The reduction in spices is a must for me…I might even go down to 1/2 Tsp of Sriracha but keep the other spices (and no pepper flakes). This recipe is a keeper and will go into my regular rotation.
Don’t worry about the pasta sticking together because it’s an easy fix: stir it with a wooden spoon for 30 to 60 seconds and they will separate nicely.
Made it tonight! Came out great…noodles cooked perfectly and I even had a mix of linguine, spaghetti and fettuccine (so I added 1 minute to cook time). Sauce was great. So, so easy and yummy! My 1.5 year old loved it!! (I halved the Sriacha) And the hubby as well. Will make again! Thanks for the recipe!!
Tasty, easy n appetizing dish. Highly recommended.
A few questions. Do you use thin or reg. Spaghetti noodles. Do you use raw or cooked shrimp.
Would you clarify some of the units for me?
I got the tsp = teaspoon and tbsp = table spoon, but which one is the Tsp?
1 tsp paprika
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbs lime juice
2 tbs sriracha
1/4 Tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 Tsp onion powder
I made this tonight and guessed on the measurements and dropped them down a bit out of concern for it being too spicy for my girls, but I would love to know the intended measurements so I can try it that way and then adjust if / as needed. Also, I tried it with frozen shrimp and the 5 minutes is no where near long enough so I am guessing the recipe is for thawed shrimp and needs to be adjusted appropriately for frozen.
Really, really good. Spicy, creamy, shrimpy goodness. Thanks for the keeper recipe.
Fantastic! Tried this tonight and it was incredible. I love it spicy and this was perfect. Been using the IP for over 4 months now and this recipe is my new favorite.
Just finished making and eating this for the first time! Oh my, it was wonderful! I was out of Siracha, so I used some “Green Dragon Hot Sauce” from Trader Joe’s. I also used whole wheat thin spaghetti and increased the cook time 2 minutes. It was perfection! Thanks for the recipe!
Used angel hair pasta and noodle was okay but shrimp didn’t cook through all the way. I had to finish on skillet. To be fair I did use large shrimp so I think I will increase cook time by a couple of minutes. Flavor was good and easy to make! Thanks!
Hi! Bang Bang pasta with shrimp sounds wonderful! Would it be possible to substitute something else for the mayo? Would heavy cream or sour cream work?
I made this recipe today with a few adjustments, based on the comments. I also had frozen cooked shrimp. I adjusted my time to 6 minutes. I tried to make sure I spread out the pasta and separated it as much as I could. I also did not put the shrimp in. After cooking, about 3/4 of the pasta turned out great. Some I was able to separate, but the rest, was not done and stuck together. Looking back, I should have made sure all the pasta was under water and stirred and separated more. I dumped the pasta in a bowl, no need to drain, then put my thawed shrimp in with the lime juice, turned on sauté for a a couple of minutes, just to warm up the shrimp, then dumped everything together and served. Family loved it. I also used a 1/2 teaspoon of siracha and it was plenty hot for me. Super easy and quick. Thanks for the recipe and the comments.
making this for dinner tonight?
Made this tonight exactly as directed in the recipe. Pasta clumped together in a few spots (I used standard spaghetti). The sauce was pretty good and the shrimp were cooked, but not overcooked. If you are cooking for someone who doesn’t like spicy food, you will need to modify this recipe. I can handle some pretty hot Thai and Indian food, but his was probably a 2.5-3 on a 1-to-5 spicy scale.
What kind of shrimp do you use? Or how do you buy it?
Please tell me the nutrition statement is for the entire pot and not just one serving. I would love to try this but the amount of fat, cholesterol, sodium and carbs, makes it pretty much impossible for the folks in this household.
Made this tonight; liked it (not the biggest bang bang sauce fan, but it was worth a try). Followed recipe exactly, timing worked for me. Would only mention that it may help to give the spaghetti noodles a quick stir after adding water and before pressure cooking; I had some noodles that clumped together so I had to add ~ 3/4 cup water afterwards to break them up. Nice flavor, if I make again I’ll probably add more red pepper flakes.
This really didn’t work for us. The garlic & paprika burned to the bottom while cooking the pasta. The pasta was a bit under done. We didn’t care for the sauce. Maybe a bit too much sweet chili sauce. I did use canola mayo instead of regular mayo. I also used canned chicken from costco instead of shrimp. Will try again, but less chili sauce, more water & a little longer cook time.
WOW! Was this ever spicy! But we loved it! Maybe next time I add only 1T. of Siracha.
Thanks for sharing!
Hi…sounds great! I am very new to pressure cooking but I am wondering if parchment paper or something more safe can be used in place of foil?? I feel especially uncomfortable pressure cooking aluminum into my food…thank you
What is your favorite shrimp?
i made this last night and had no problems with the spaghetti, made sure that the pasta was all covered by water before cooking, and i put the pasta in like a birds nest, not side by side. no problems with it sticking or cooking together. i also omitted a bit of the siracha because my son isnt a fan of hot. you could still feel a bit of heat but not to much. it was very good. i also used 1 1/2 lbs of shrimp and cooked it on high pressure for 6 min. it could have probably cooked for 7. but still a good one.
Raw or cooked shrimp? Fresh or frozen??
I used frozen
Do the time and amount of fluid need to be adjusted for 5,500 feet altitude? This was perfect at sea level, but what changes are necessary at high altitude?
Made this tonight, soooooo good, I love it, my family thought it was too spicy, perfect for me, next time I guess I’ll cut back a little, sigh… followed recipe as is and had no problems with undercooked pasta or being too dry… I did add the liquid from the shrimp as others were asking if it should be added or drained, I was contemplating draining it, however my tin foil was too weak and added it by default… perfection!!!
Is it me or are most of the recipes that deal with pressure cooking confusing on the times. Especially when the chef says it only takes eight minutes to make? Four prep and then four cook. Except it takes two to three for the sauté to start sizzling. Nothing is instaneous. Then when I am ready to pressure cook and put the lid on, and go to pressure cook you have to cancel and click on pressure cool. Then it’s ten or so minutes for pressure to be fully engaged. Then. The four minute timer starts.
So. With the above modifications. Did 1/2 lb of pasta. Two cups of water. Added water before noodles, and scraped the sautéed bits of garlic off the bottom and then moved the submerged noodles around. So completely wet and oiled so hopefully they don’t stick.
I used one pound of larger 41-50 shrimp. Frozen. Dumped in with frost on them.
Ok. Sauce made as described. Timer went off. Quick release. Shrimp was partially cooked. Which made me happy. I was worried of over cooking them. Dumped them into the sauce. Stores the noodles. Some stickage to each and the bottom. But not bad. Some water left. But not too bad. Noodles were al Dante. Good. Stirred in sauce. All good! Hot bubbling sauce finished cooking the shrimp.
Only one issue which was my bad. I forgot to peel the shrimp since I just dumped them in front the bag and didn’t notice! Oh well. Still very good.
I agree with increasing the cooking time by a minute or two. The noodles were a little too “al dente,” and the shrimp were bordering on undercooked. I added water and sauteed on the stove for a few minutes after pressure cooking.
I can’t eat pasta. How can I do this without it?
Why bother with the aluminum foil? Wouldn’t it turn out the same if you just put the shrimp on top of the pasta?
Can I use lemon juice instead of lime juice? Or will it ruin the taste?
Made this for my husband and I for dinner tonight, I’m a huge shrimp lover and he is a spicy lover. This dish pleased the both of us equally!!! I mistakenly put 2 Tbsp of siracha instead of 2 Tsp, but it worked perfectly because it wasn’t too spicy for me and it was just right for my husband! Definitely one that will be kept in heavy rotation!
I made this tonight and got a burn error. Anyone know what I did wrong? Very new to the IP
Just tried this last night. Never even eaten it before. But was fast, easy, and DELICIOUS!
This was delicious! Made according to recipe including the cook time except I realized I was out of sriracha so I used Franks Red Hot Sauce and this turned out nice. I will be making this again and trying it with other protein (chicken or andouille sausage etc). Thank you for a simple and quick wonderful dish!
Great recipe but I would put the shrimp in the water and pasta to cook more thoroughly. It also needs lots of salt!